Loop cutting and edge trimming machine



March 8, 1938. H. E. BURR LOOP CUTTING AND EDGE TRIMMING MACHINE Filed April 21, 1933 3 Sheets-Sham: l

March 8, 1938. H. E. BURR LOOP CUTTING AND EDGE TRIMMING MACHINE s Shets-Sheet 2 Filed April 21, 1935 II miu -i E" March 8, 1938. H. E. BURR LOOP CUTTING AND EDGE TRIMMING MACHINE Filed April 21, 1933 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Mar. 8, 1938 2,116,567

UNITE STATES PTET FFEQE L001? CUTTING AND EDGE TRIMMING MACHINE Harold E. Burr, Springfield, Vt, assignor to Parks a W'oolson Machine Company, Spring-- field, Vt, a corporation of Vermont Application April 21, 1933, Serial No. 667,153

8 Claims. (Cl. 26-7) This invention relates to cloth finishing and is disc cutters for severing the thread ends that intended to provide a safe, reliable and effective remain after the loops are cut. mechanism for severing the loose threads and Fig. 8 is a front elevation on the plane indithread loops found at the edge of the woven cated by lines 3-8 on Fig. '7 showing a face view 5 fabric in various types of weaving, especially in of the modified pair of cutters in their relation 5 Weaving by automatic looms. to the edge-confining cloth guide.

It is extremely desirable that the loose thread Both the forms illustrated in the drawings ends and loops at the edge of the cloth be cleancomprise pairs of rotary cutters located outside ly and completely severed close to the edge of the the edge of the cloth that is to be trimmed, the

fabric Without missing any threads and Without cutters of each pair being rotated about axes on 10 danger of cutting the cloth itself, While permitopposite faces of the cloth, one above the plane ting the rapid travel of the cloth through the of the cloth and the other below the plane of the shearing machine to minimize the expense of the cloth at the shearing line. shearing operation. It Will be understood that both forms of ro- An important feature of the present invention tary cutters are shown mounted upon a trans- 15 consists in an effective arrangement of over- Versely movable carriage or support which also lapped shearing discs or cutters located outside carries an associated cloth guide movable trans of the cloth in close cutting proximity to the versely in unison with the cutters and preferably edge of the cloth and rotating in planes that are controlled as to in and. out position by the substantially perpendicular or transverse to the swerving movements of the cloth. 20

edge of the cloth. Additional features include The preferred form and arrangement of cutthe relationship of edge-confining guides to roter illustrated in Figs. 14 will first be described. tal'y cutters, so arranged, and effective means by In this form of the invention there are mounted which the cutters, as well as the guides, are on a transversely movable carriage 8, supported caused to automatically follow the in-and-out and guid d y track r l 8 n a n t ns- 25 swerving mechanism of the cloth, although it Verse horizontal track members 9, horizontal will be understood that the principle of arrange- Cutter Shafts l Carrying Cutter discs l9 a d lnent of the rotary cutters is applicable to shearbelow the level of the p ane of the 010th and ing machines Where the cutters are manually unt d in bearing bOXeS Carried y a head guided. These and other features of the inven- 6, at is l' l y damped 150 a Vertically 30 tion Will be particularly described in the folloW- lott st nd or up 5 on h carriage n ing specification and will be defined in the claims Or 130 po the Cutters at the N D level hereto annexed. to present the cutter disc carried at the inner In the drawings are illustrated two varia t end of each shaft in proper relation to the level embodiments of the invention, of which of the edge of the cloth to be trimmed. Each 35 Fig. 1 is a plan view of that portion of a shearu t r s a t l is previded w h a driving h v ing machine carrying the overlapped rotary cut- 2 which receives a driving belt 3 connected with ters. any suitable driving shaft carried by the ma- Fig. 2 is a right hand side elevati of th chine and travelling so as to rotate the cutter 40 t ti n shown in Fig, 1. discs Ill with their upper edges moving in the 40 Fig. 3 is an elevation on the sectional plane direction of the travel of the cloth- 3 3 of Fig, 1 Above the bearing head of each lower cutter Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional, elevation on the m' I is mounted a rotary cutter shaft ll carsection line of Fig rled by an upper bearing box it and having at Fig. 5 is a detail View showing in front eleva 3:53 :35; g gzi gg gg ggg gsg;2 2 33: 1 i 45 gllol lrtlhe cloth feeling and carriage shifting mechon both Sides The lower Cutter disc a its I f th 1 th 1 inner face bevelled while its outer face slightly g 15 1 e e eva 1011.0 6 fee er and overlaps and engages the upper cutter disc i2, carnage shlftmg mechamsm on plane 6 s of which it drives through frictional contact. The 50 5 bearing box H contains a follower piece l3 ar- 7 1s slde elevatlm Showmg modified ranged to receive the thrust of the spring i3 and rr m embracing a pa r f v pp d transmit it to the outer end of the cutter shaft tary cutters provided with loop cutting blades II. By means of the screw it and a thrust in association with a rearwardly disposed pair of block l3 engaged thereby, the end thrust or 55 pressure of the spring W can be varied to meet different requirements and to give the proper frictional pressure of the upper disc l2 against the outer face of the lower disc H The two soacting cutters are arranged to rotate about axes extending in the direction of the in and out travel of the cloth with their cutters revolving as close as practicable to the marginal edge of the cloth passing by them, so that the outwardly projecting threads or loops at the edge of the cloth will be presented to the nip of the cutters. The bevelling of the inside face of the inside or lower cutter permits the adjustment of the cutters very closely to the travelling edge of the cloth so that the outwardly projected threads and loops may be severed very close to the cloth edge.

The edge-confining cloth guide is very similar in construction to that illustrated in Patent No. 1,180,488, and comprises a lower guide plate it provided with an oblique angle air blast tube w and an upper guide plate [5 provided with an oblique air blast tube Ili As actually shown herein, the upper and lower guide plates are provided with salient portions I5 I6 immediately in advance of the overlapped portions of each pair of cutters and windows or openings are left in the outer edge-confining portion of the guide member to allow the marginal threads and loops to be projected through such openings across the shearing line formed by the two cutters. It is the purpose of these salients to produce a slackening or fullness of the selvage loops at the edge of the cloth to enable them to bulge or belly out into the nip of the rollers when the slack loop is blown out through the adjacent openings in the edge of the cloth confining guides. he cloth edge follows an offset detour around each salient, while the loops coming opposite the openings are projected beyond the salient and therefore travel in substantially the normal plane of the cloth. The edge-guiding and threadprojecting device, thus described, is mounted on standards I? on the carriage and the cutters are vertically adjustable as before explained in relation to the line of travel of the edge of the cloth at the opening through which the threads are projected across the path of the rotary cutters. Since the air blasts are arranged opposite each face of the cloth, threads and loops on both faces of the cloth are projected through the opening in the cloth guide and to still further insure against the missing of threads or loops the second set of cutters are arranged adjacent to an oppositely disposed salient portion of the guide plates, which salient projects downwardly instead of upwardly but in all other respects is of like construction to that above described. The third pair of cutters are arranged in proper relation to a flat non-salient portion of the guide provided with a window or opening through which the threads of the previously severed loops are projected.

With the cloth edge travelling successively hrough a path following the double salient and a straightline path, it is virtually impossible for any threads or loops to escape severance close to the edge of the cloth, because the threads on opposite faces of the cloth are given every possible chance to be projected across the path of the rotary cutters and, in case any projected threads are not severed close to theedge of the cloth, the third pair of cutters will finish the trimming close up to the edge.

It will therefore be understood that both loops and loose end threads are trimmed off close to the edge of the cloth and that the device acts both to cut selvage loops and trim ofi end threads, leaving a clean margin free from float threads of any kind.

Special provision is made for shifting the cutters and the associated cloth guide easily and quickly in response to the in and out swerving movements of the cloth edge, as best shown in Figs. 2, 5, and 6. On the forward side of the carriage is secured a feeler supporting bracket 20 of angular form, which carries a vertical spindle 2! on which is mounted an oscillating post or rocker 22 provided near its lower end with a laterally projecting arm 23 carrying a rearwardly projecting knife edge or pawl tooth 23 and provided near its upper end with an oppositely or inwardly projecting arm 25 carrying a similar reversely bevelled knife edge or pawl tooth Z t Opposite each of the described pawl teeth are disposed transversely extending threaded lower and upper ratchet shafts 353 and 3!, which are interconnected at their inner ends by intermeshing pinions 32. The lower ratchet shaft carries a belt driven sheave 33 and it will be understood that these two driving ratchet shafts are mounted in fixed brackets carried by the frame of the machine and not on the carriage. While the threads forming the ratchet teeth are cut in the same direction h-elically, yet the abrupt thrust faces of the ratchet threads of the respective shafts face in opposite directions and the pawl teeth 23 and M are bevelled in opposite directions. Therefore, when the upper tooth 2& is engaged with the ratchet shaft 3!, the cutter carriage or carrier will be moved outwardly and when the lower ratchet tooth 23 is engaged withthe lower shaft or spindle 30, the carriage will be shifted inwardly, since the ratchet pawl is mounted on a bracket fastened to the carriage.

The control of the shifting connection betweel the feeler mechanism and the actuating rotary ratchet shafts is effected in the following manner. On the vertical arm of the bracket 29 is carried a serrated sector shaped feeler 25 pivoted on a horizontal pin 2%. The feeler 25 is provided with a downwardly and rearwardly extending toe member 2"! which forms an overbalancing weight tending normally to swing the feeler in a forward direction or counterclockwise, according to the illustration in Fig. 6. The rearward movement of the feeler 25 is limited by a stop pin 25 carried by the bracket. When the travelling cloth engages the serrated upper edge of the feeler 25 it causes clockwise rotation of the feeler 2E and, so long as the cloth contact continues, holds the feeler against the stop pin 25 with the toe member 2'5 out of engagement with the pawl and leaves the ratchet pawl in neutral or inactive position. If the cloth swerves inward losing contact with the serrated feeler 25, the gravity overbalanced feeler turns in a counterclockwise direction bringing its toe 2'11 against the outer or lowermost pawl member 23, thereby engaging the tooth 23 with the lower ratchet shaft 38, which then acts to shift the carriage inwardly until the pawl 23 is released by reengagement of the cloth with the feeler. Should the edge of the cloth swerve outward slightly beyond the plane of the feeler 25 it will then contact with the feeler finger 28, which is a thin blade secured to the upper end of the pawl and projecting rearwardly and inwardly, as shown in Fig. l, to engage the edge of the cloth when the edge has swerved very slightly beyond the plane of the feeler 25. The pressure of the cloth against the feeler finger 28 turns the pawl arm 24 inwardly so that the tooth 2 3* is engaged with the upper ratchet shaft 3 I, thus causing the carriage or cutter carrier to move outward until the feeler 25 has been shifted outward beyond the edge of the cloth, at which point the feeler 25 being released acts again through gravity to restore the pawl to ratchet engaging position.

It will therefore be seen that the inward shifting movement of the carriage occurs only when the marginal portion of the cloth is out of engagement with the feeler 25, while the outward movement of the carriage occurs only when the cloth has swerved outwardly beyond the plane of the feeler 25. The requisite shifting movements of the carriage are practically responsive instantly to slight in and out swerving movements of the cloth so that the shearing plane of the cutters is promptly adjusted to any swerving of the cloth edge. The edge portion of the cloth runs over a convex guide piece 29 on the inside face of the feeler 25 over which the cloth travels and serves to guide the'edge of the cloth upward to position for engagement with the top serrated edge of the feeler. Immediately in advance of the feeler 25 there is mounted in slotted brackets a Weight roller 29 which serves to keep the cloth at this point pressed down to keep the cloth in contact with the feeler.

Instead of using plural pairs of disc cutters, as above described, for severing the loops and end threads, there may be used a pair of cutters of the type shown in Richardsons Patent No. 1,815,585 comprising blade carrying arms that rotate transversely of the edge line of the cloth to engage and cut the loops. This form of the invention is illustrated in Figs. 7 and 8 in which are shown a pair of parallel shafts M3 and M mounted above and below the level of the cloth and supporting radiating arm cutters revolving in parallel laterally ofiset planes in opposite directions with their cutting edges travelling in partly overlapped relation at the level of the cloth passing by. The cloth guiding means, embracing the space plates I5, 56 and their blast tubes IB I6 is the same as that shown in the other figures of the drawings and the supporting carriage 8 is constructed and operated in the same manner, except that the bearing box-es 42 and 43 for the respective shafts 4!], ti, respectively, are positioned to align the cutter shafts of the cutters 45 in a direction transverse to the movement of the carriage 8 otherwise supported in a direction substantially parallel with the travel of the cloth. In this case each of the cutter shafts 40, 4| are provided with belt sheaves 44 for driving them in opposite directions, so that the adjacent or overlapping portions of the cutters move outwardly at the level of the cloth edge. As actually shown, the forward and upper cutter 45 is arranged opposite a downwardly turned salient of the cloth guide, while the lower rearwardly ofiset cutter 45 travels in a path opposite the upward salient of the cloth guide. Since this type and arrangement of cutter are intended to merely sever the loop threads on the edge of the cloth, there is located behind it a pair of overlapped disc cutters H1 and I2 precisely like the disc cutters illustrated in the other figures of the drawings and described above.

It will therefore be seen that in both forms of loop cutting and edge trimming devices the loops are cut and the end threads are severed while the cloth is being passed through the machine at any desired rate of speed. In both cases the cutters of each couple or pair are mounted to rotate in vertical planes or planes perpendicular to the travel of the cloth, the cutters of each pair being mounted at opposite sides of the cloth and outside the edge of the cloth that is to be trimmed by them.

The oppositely offset open end salients for each pair of cutters, arranged in proximity to the shearing nip of each pair, insures the expulsions of edge threads or loops adhering to opposite faces of the cloth. In practice an exhaust shield or casing 59 will preferably be used to enclose the cutters in order to carry away the thread clippings and prevent clogging.

What I claim is:

1. In a cloth shearing machine, edge trimming means embracing front and rear pairs of rotary cutters, those of each pair being revoluble in partly overlapped relation about upper and lower axes across the edge of the cloth to be trimmed, edge guiding and protecting means inclosing the edge of the cloth while leaving openings adjacent the overlapped portions of the rotary cutters for the expulsion of threads, said guiding means being provided with upwardly and downwardly offset salient portions adjacent the shearing lines of the respective pairs of cutters, and means. for effecting expulsion of edge threads on opposite faces of the marginal portion of the cloth through the respective openings into the path of the overlapped shearing cutters.

2. In a machine for trimming loops and thread ends at the edge of a piece of cloth, the combination with cloth guiding means arranged to inclose the edge portion of the cloth and limit its outward movement, a pair of mutually overlapping shearing cutters located close to, but outside, the edge guiding means and revoluble about approximately horizontal axes disposed respectively above and below the level of the cloth guide, and means for rotating said cutters to sever loops and threads expelled through an opening in the edge of the guide in front of the nip of the cutters.

3. In a machine for trimming oii the loops and. thread ends at the edge of a piece of cloth, the combination of upper and lower shearing discs rotating in overlapped relation close to, but outside of, the edge of the cloth in planes substantially perpendicular to the plane of the cloth being trimmed and in planes substantially parallel to the direction of travel of the cloth, cloth guiding means embracing the edge portion of the cloth and limiting the outward movement thereof and having openings in its outer edge adjacent the nip of the cutters, said discs and said guide being movable transversely of the travel of the cloth in correspondence with the lateral swerving movements of the edge of the cloth and its confining guide.

4. In a machine for cutting and trimming loops and thread ends at the edge of a piece of cloth, the combination of guiding means inclosing the edge portion of the cloth and limiting its outward movement and provided with an opening at its outer edge topermit expulsion of the loops and threads beyond the edge of the cloth, a pair of upper and lower shearing discs revoluble in overlapped relation close to the edge of the cloth and outside said edge and in planes parallel to the direction of travel of the cloth, a transversely movable carriage supporting in predetermined relationship both the guide and the cutters, and means for shifting said carriage with its supported guide and shearing discs simultaneously in and out in correspondence with the swerving movements of the edge of the cloth.

5. In a machine for trimming off the loops and thread ends at the edge of a piece of cloth, the combination with a plurality of edge-embracing, edge-limiting guides arranged along the edge of a piece of cloth being fed through the machine, each guide having an opening in its outer edge to permit the expulsion of loops and threads at the edge or" the cloth, a plurality of power driven shearing elements arranged close to, and outside, the openings in the edge of said guide, each shearing element comprising a pair of shearing discs arranged in overlapped relation to each other and to the opening in the guide, one of said discs being power driven and acting through its overlapping contact with the other disc to cause rotation of said disc in a direction opposite to the rotation of the driving disc.

6. In a machine for trimming ofi loops and thread ends at the edge of a piece of cloth, the combination with an edge inclosing and limiting guide provided with an opening at its edge for the expulsion of such loops and thread ends by air blasts directed through said guides, a pair of shearing discs arranged in overlapping relationship and contact opposite said opening, means for rotating said discs so that their overlapping edges travel in the direction of travel of the cloth, said discs being arranged in approximately vertical planes outside, but close to, the edge of said cloth and in parallelism with the direction of travel of the cloth as it travels by the opening in the guide.

'7. In a cloth shearing machine the combination of a hollow guide inclosing the edge portion of the cloth travelling through it and limiting the outward movement of the cloth edge, means for expelling float threads at the edge of the cloth through an opening in the edge of the guide, a pair of coacting disc cutters arranged outside the edge of the guide and in close proximity thereto, said cutters being revoluble about axes above and below the level of the cloth travelling through the guide and having their adjacent edges arranged on overlapping contact with each other and rotating in the direction of travel of the cloth whereby both unservered and severed loop threads may be severed close to the edge of the cloth.

8. In a cloth shearing machine the combination of cloth guiding means inclosing the edge portion 1 of the cloth travelling through it and limiting the outward movement of the cloth edge, said guiding means being provided with successive upward and downward salient portions provided with openings at the edge to permit the expulsion of float loops attached to the edge of the cloth and also with a rearward non-salient opening for the expulsion of severed loop threads, and a pair of overlapping contacting disc cutters revoluble, respectively, about axes above and below each of said openings with their overlapping portions travelling in the direction of travel of the cloth.

HAROLD E. BURRl 

